Happy spring, to my northern hemisphere friends. What fascinating beasts did you see this week?

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@sovereignsolace
Happy spring, to my northern hemisphere friends. What fascinating beasts did you see this week?

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on participatory art:
Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata, first published over two hundreds years ago, is notoriously considered one of the most difficult-to-play piano pieces of all time.
In particular, when Beethoven sent it to his publisher in 1818, he allegedly said, “Now you have a sonata that will keep the pianists busy when it is played 50 years hence!”, and much has been made of the fact that it wasn’t publicly performed in its entirety until eighteen years later, by Franz Liszt himself.
Except that’s a bit of a deceptive statistic. See, when Beethoven published Hammerklavier, public solo piano recitals/concerts weren’t really a thing yet. Symphonies, sure; concertos, definitely. But sonatas were “parlor” music—a thing played by amateurs, often skilled amateurs, but amateurs nonetheless, in little sitting-rooms for a bit of entertainment after dinner, or at private salons with a guest list in the low dozens. (And mostly they were meant to be sight-read! The culture of obsessively polishing a piece to make it “performance-ready” wasn’t as much of a thing, back then.) People bought these things the way they bought novels, and, just as someone might buy a copy of Joyce’s Ulysses today and enjoy puzzling over the thing, even if they never read the whole thing or feel like they fully “get” it, well… some folks would enjoy sonatas the same way.
So yeah, Hammerklavier didn’t have its first public performance until Liszt played it in the Salle Érard. But also, Liszt basically invented the format of “star virtuoso pianist hogging the stage for two hours” in order to get a public audience at all.
But in the meantime—I think about how wonderful it must’ve been, tooling around on the piano during that 18-year-span where there was no evidence that thing even was playable, or that, if playable, that the thing even made sense. Beethoven was nearly totally deaf by this point, after all, a fact that was publicly known—had he totally lost it? people had to wonder. And the only way to find out would be… well, trying it out yourself!
It has the sound of a gimmick. And I’ll bet it was, at least a little bit—but just because something’s more interesting to play than listen to doesn’t mean it’s failing in its goal. (Though fwiw it is very interesting to listen to.)
It also has the sound of, like, Dark Souls, to be honest. Proto-video game culture. A new game drops and people are asking each other: can anyone beat this boss? can you beat this boss? do you still consider your time on the game well-spent even if you never 100% it?
Biographies generally agree that Beethoven’s metronome markings (which only appear in his later work, and only *some* of his later work) are preposterous—often borderline-unplayable, and certainly not very musical. I couldn’t find a recording of anyone trying to play Hammerklavier at the marked 138bpm tempo, so I got a computer to do it—and burst out laughing at the result because, yeah, 138bpm is fucking NUTS. But whether intentional or accidental, I love the audacity of its being there, like a taunt: I dare you to do more. I dare you to do better. I dare you to try.
Much has been made of how difficulty’s a way of keeping people out—but it’s also a way of inviting people in, I think. It says: do this hard thing and you will be rewarded. You will be rewarded in the trying. Because the trying is the thing that makes the music live; there is no music without you.
Here’s an old bit from an interview with the game designer Porpentine:
“The purpose of a puzzle [in a game] is to provide resistance. For me, that resistance doesn’t need to be coercive or challenging, just interesting and aesthetic. My mechanics are to be touched. Games are perhaps the most intimate art because the player must remain touching at all times. They must touch or the game does not exist.”
So it goes with these sonatas, too.
@arwcn is this what you mean when you talk about your father aggressively playing piano for fun at home 👀
This has unlocked a new fear O_O he's been working on Chopin's études for like ten years; he's over 70, so his version of extreme sports is seeing how fast he can play them
they killed him for this
I respect the hustle, but let's keep our financial vocabulary accurate. This is not what passive income is. Passive income is when your money is making money without your actions. If my savings account earns 1%, those interest dollars (however small) are passive income. If dude is out there scamming barflys and kissing men for money, that's gig work.
Gig work and side hustles can help you earn enough capital to later generate some passive income.
Let's put it this way. You earn passive income while you sleep. Not while you sleep around.
maarten inghels
@sherbertilluminated there's a line somewhere in Ursula Vernon's Digger that goes something like "it is difficult to be metaphysical around the truly geologically minded"
And some of my components used to be stars. You ain't that special, rock.
Queer as in an "identity is fluid and descriptors can be imprecise so I prefer a more general term" sort of way but also queer in a "What are you, a cop?" sort of way.
Some incredible replies in the tags.
Bringing this post back specifically with a bunch of the tags that people have shared that I love.
And I'll add some more.
And, one more:
I also would like to know what my gender and sexuality is, weatherboy, but here we fucking are.

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This is Progress
Information
which outfit would you rather wear? (1883)
left 🩵🐱
right ❤️🪻
commentary from the curator: I'd like to note that this is one of the strangest "normal" plates I've ever seen (meaning not fancy dress or costume). between the flowers looking like they just got pinned on rather than worked into the shape of the garment in any way and, well, the cat, I'm not really sure what's going on here. I'm fairly certain that the cat would not have been a real, taxidermy cat, because I have never seen nor heard of that before. birds yes, cats not so much. but if anyone has any knowledge about what's going on here, I'd love to know! ☺️
I've been looking it up and I have bad news: I'm pretty sure that IS a taxidermied kitten. As may be the matching kitten head on her hat.
Cats were wildly popular in the 1880s and that sometimes extended to wearing taxidermied kittens as part of one's outfit. A really interesting source I found has some quotes from period newspapers on the subject:
NEW PARISIAN COSTUMES - THE MODISTES BUSY - KITTENS' HEADS AS MUFF ORNAMENTS (The New York Times, October 4, 1883; The St. Andrews Bay Pilot, Oct 18, 1883):
PARIS, Oct 3. - ...Here are three new hats that were noted at the Salon yesterday. A toque of black tulle, embroidered with Pompadour sprigs of bright flowers in front; a large loosely looped rosette of Rose Dubarry ribbons, and in the midst of that a richly jeweled owl's head. A Henri IV hat of yellowish, long pile beaver, the brim flat and narrow, on one side a nest of mice, forming a bow. A blue soft felt hat, on one side a bow of blue velvet and satin, on which is placed a bird with open wings, and from under the bow emerges a kitten's head. The demand for kittens' heads has become so important that cat breeding has become a regular business. Pigeons' wings and cock's heads are also much worn, and the muff of the season will be velvet or plush, to match the dresses, with a kitten or hirondelle de mer on the front.
Christmas fancy goods advert from the Fort Wayne Sentinel [Fort Wayne, Indiana, US], December 20, 1886 suggests: “Purses made out of cats' or kittens' heads are the newest for change. Although reputed "from Paris," they are made in New York, for purses go to GEORGE DEWALD CO”
Fast fashion is still bad for the environment, but at least we're done breeding cats to use as taxidermy decorations.
This is your friendly reminder to look up the connections between feathers on women's hats and the Migratory Bird Act (one of the toughest environmental protection laws available in the USA).
a Disco Elysium comic inspired by one of my favourite Discworld books; have a Glorious 25th of May!

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very telling that even if you’re not allowed to view content related to self harm/suicide/eating disorders due to not giving up your ID on the uk internet you will still be shown relentless ads for weight loss drugs and fad diets showing unrealistic/AI generated bodies and unhealthy methods and time frames for weight loss that can only be achieved by starvation. oh and also so so many gambling ads. relentless ads for gacha and gambling services. almost like it’s not actually about protecting kids at all or something
"oh food now has so much added to it, past food was so pure and untainted" victorians used to cut bread with chalk and aluminum powder. romans put lead in the wine, which was made from dirty feet mushing unwashed grapes covered in horse shit and road dust. i think our species will survive a few additives in food. our food systems have never been cleaner and safer. it has room for improvement, but we're not putting fucking plaster of paris in the milk
The water that comes out of my kitchen tap is soooooo clean, y'all.
And the products actually contain what the label says they contain! And do not contain ingredients not listed!
None of these are accidents. They are deliberate policy choices (fought for and bled for) and the enforcement of these policies matters.
I really hope what comes out of the "they're saying trans people are terrorists" issue is people understanding that 'terrorist' was always a meaningless word used to stigmatize anyone deemed oppositional to the state and not a resurgence of the "trans people make america great" rhetorical bootlicking.
Cosigned.
Rhetoric about terrorism got a huge bump in 2001, but this was the pattern even before then. I remember the 1990s, and there was plenty of whining in elite spaces about Eco-Terrorists. These "terrorists" were people who dared to protect natural resources from the predation of extractive capitalism, sometimes by spiking trees or destroying heavy equipment, and sometimes by protesting (classified as trespassing when it got inconvenient).
None of it met any real definition of terrorism. Not then, not now.
it’s so magical and beautiful that there are sprawling interconnected cave systems carved deep into the earth by various geological forces and you don’t have to go in them. there are miles and miles of stone passageways in total darkness that require you to exhale all the air out of your lungs to squeeze through parts of them and you don’t have to be there. some of these squeezes are underwater and require cave divers to take off their oxygen tanks and push them through ahead of them and me i am above ground looking at the sky as we speak. there are untold subterranean wonders no human has ever seen and i will not be the one to discover them #grateful #blessed
so true there could be any number of undiscovered species down there all of which are none of my business and never will be. peace and love on (the surface of) planet earth 💕

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So I've been flipping through a library book - The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe and I came across a short story called How to Write a Blackwood Article that I hadn't encountered before.
It starts like this:
This was written in 1838, but it has some real Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way vibes.
What do you think? The full text is available.
Read How to Write a Blackwood Article by Edgar Allan Poe. Full text of this classic short story, free to read online at American Literature.
ITS GREAT LAKES AWARENESS DAY!!!!!
On this excellent day, be aware that this is the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world, covering over 95,000 square miles and reaching depths of over a thousand feet. They are beautiful freshwater seas.
Also when you die in these lakes, the very cold, oxygen-poor conditions at the bottom preserves you perfectly for all eternity. You will not rot and nothing will eat you. You will exist for as long as the Great Lakes do. Many shipwrecks still have the crew on board. Be Aware.
that last paragraph only applies to Lake Superior, the northernmost Great Lake! to be fair though, Superior is bigger than all of the other Great Lakes combined.
and that's not to say that the other Great Lakes aren't equally dangerous! each of these things earned the 'Great' descriptor for a reason, and the only reason they aren't all classified as inland seas is because they're not salty.
Lake Michigan in particular is really good at creating waterlogged corpses and hiding them in weird places, and every single Great Lake is full of shipwrecks and ghost stories.
and you know what? 10/10 I would let these things eat me anyways.
be aware!
fun optional addition, LAKE SUPERIOR VS THE EAST COAST
you could drown an entire small country in this thing
No PSA About the Great Lakes is complete without The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald: